TONIGHT: The C vs. A Radio Hour!

Our bi-weekly comedy talk show returns tonight from 7-8PM EST with our friends at Gtownradio.com (The Sound From Germantown).

Your host Dave Walk will be talking to Philadelphia comedians, playing not-funny songs and other great stuff, so make sure to set your internet dial to Gtownradio.com. Who will be on the show this week?

Today marks to the day the 15-year anniversary of the death of stand-up comic Bill Hicks from pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. We'll be playing some clips of Hicks' material and talk to Los Angeles comic Jimmy Dore about the man.

And during the second half of the show, Philadelphia writer and comic Gregg Gethard will tell his story of scandal, absurdity, triumph and love on the early 90s PBS game show Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?. All this plus not-funny music!

Remember, that's 7-8PM TONIGHT EST, streaming at Gtownradio.com. And, you can instant message us in the studio on AIM, Yahoo!, Gchat or MSN at CVSARADIO or through Twitter (@comicvsaudience.

By the way, you can listen to G-Town Radio on your iPhone or iPod Touch!
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RECAP: The Whitest Kids U'Know, 2/24 by Paul Triggiani and Bryce Remsburg

Let us say foremost that The Whitest Kids U Know have a much larger fan base then we had assumed. Their fans are young, overwhelmingly suburban and-- more than anything-- loud. "Screaming girls annoy the shit out of me," screams a girl behind us, while other folks yell catchphrases across the sold-out theater. It didn't take long for us to question our pledge of sobriety for the night.

The opener for the night is Josh Fadem—a California comedian who is half a self-aware parody of the audience and half a bevy of irreverent hipster non-sequiturs. “You guys seem like an edgy crowd,” says Fadem early on. “So I’ve prepared a dick joke.” We approve, even if the crowd didn’t (“Get off the fucking stage” yells the aforementioned screaming girl who hates screaming girls).

The Whitest Kids U Know took the stage at 9:30. The majority of the show was live material-- all of it performed in street clothes (they had lavalieres taped to their clothing) with only four folding chairs to serve as a set. This is their first national tour, but the Whitest Kids seem at home on a stage this size, even though they were performing on small NYC stages only two years ago. There are a number of technical foul-ups that we can relate to, and we’re relieved for a moment to see that no sketch comedy shows are without their tech issues.

The content of their scenes is well received by the audience, though none of it is groundbreaking. Much of their material hinges on misdirection or double entendre. Their scenes are more a collection of references or lists of shock items rather than defined patterns of action or escalation—but that is a non-issue to their fans. The crowd favorite of the night—a sketch about a vulgar, ghettofied Abraham Lincoln who is beaten to death for acting out in Ford’s Theater—is also their least substantial (and probably the most potentially offensive). Their best sketch (from a conceptual standpoint), wherein Whitest Kid Zach enacts spiteful vengeance upon his girlfriend in the context of a scene, is also the most poorly received. The Whitest Kids aren’t particularly concerned with structure, but they know what their audience wants to see—and their audience could give a damn about structure.

While the Whitest Kids may not particularly be our cup of tea, we know they are clearly someone’s. Many someones. We came to this show expecting what we’ve come to expect from national touring sketch shows—production value, crafted sets, elaborate costumes and props, perfectly choreographed tech, and barely a crowd. What we saw was exactly the opposite.

Like them or not, The Whitest Kids U’ Know are doing something right. If the success they’re enjoying now can trickle down to yield mass awareness, the benefits will be there for the reaping.

- Paul Triggiani and Bryce Remsburg are part of the Philadelphia sketch comedy group Secret Pants.
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TONIGHT: The Ministry of Secret Jokes

It's the last Wednesday of the month and that's means it's time for another installment of Doogie Horner's MINISTRY OF SECRET JOKES at Fergie's Pub (1214 Sansom St.). The show starts at an earlier time of 8PM and will include stand-up by Steve Odabashian, Amir Gollan, Steve Balbier, and Doogie Horner. Omniana champion Brendan Kennedy will defend his title against a mystery challenger and comics Pat Barker and Steve "The Iceman" Gerben will play a diabolical game of "The Ruby Hats of Death" that Barker conceived himself and debuted at the previous show. According to Doogie:

However, just like Frankenstein's monster, Pat has discovered his creation is an unholy monster that doesn't always obey its master. The Ruby Hats of Death is one of the most difficult, punishing games every played at the Ministry, and although Pat escaped with his life last time, it's uncertain whether he'll be able to do so again tonight. How Steve will fare is an uncertainty. Has the balmy California climate and easy, West Coast way of life prepared him to face off against Barker's split second comedic timing and razor sharp teeth?

The two have history. This battle can be seen as a rematch of sorts, as Barker and Gerben clashed during Omniana last May:


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Who Needs FM radio when you can podcast?

Last Friday, Los Angeles morning talk radio The Adam Carolla Show went off the air for the last time. It wasn't because their ratings were suffering, or that Carolla swore over the airwaves and the FCC shut him down. Rather, his L.A. station, 97.1 FreeFM switched their format to Top 40 under the new name of Amp Radio.

It wouldn't be fair to say that The Adam Carolla Show was just another morning zoo show. He gave regular (almost weekly) spots to "alternative" comics such Chris Hardwick, Doug Benson and Dana Gould. A radio guy at heart, Carolla loves funny people and fake laughter was rarely heard when he had a comedian on.

While Carolla expressed anger with L.A. FM radio being taken over by generic Top 40 stations and what he calls "ranchero music", he conceded that the format flip was nothing more than a business decision. He also talked about the station's program diretor's idea to do a Wing Bowl because, as the PD put it, "it's big in Philly."

And he's got other plans set in motion already, debuting his new podcast at Carollaradio.com. The first episode was posted this morning and while Carolla admits the setup is bare bones (for now, he's got plans to "get guests in here, we're going to get more than one mic set and we'll probably get a studio setup"), Carolla sees it as a way to connect with his audience and be able to say whatever the hell he wants.

Meanwhile, an idea has recently been floated around that if Sirius falls, why wouldn't Howard Stern just do a podcast? Certainly this should be taken with a grain of salt-it didn't come out of Stern's camp-but it makes financial sense.

Not that the idea is anything new. I've outlined the comedy podcasts out there that are bringing new voices and ideas straight to audiences that are rarely heard over the airwaves. One of them, Never Not Funny has even successfully ran a premium payment model.

I'm not trying to signal that there's going to be a max exodus from terrestrial and satellite radio, but something is brewing. As it becomes easier to distribute content over mobiles phones, MP3 players and soon internet-ready cars (if anyone will ever be able to afford them), an internet radio show doesn't sound so silly anymore (ahem). And when big names realize that they can do produce, distribute and sell their content themselves for cheaper, watch out.

Meanwhile, in a drastically different yet still effective payment model, Jersey City's free-form WFMU will start their yearly two-week fund raising campaign March 2nd (I know because I'm a proud donor and recently got their mass mailing). If you're a fan of comedy and know of WFMU, it's probably through the tent-pole show The Best Show on WFMU which yesterday started Best Show Gems, a twice a month "podcast featuring highlights from the full radio show. Classic Scharpling and Wurster calls, amazing phone-ins, random weirdness and more! It's a perfect way for a beginner to get on board, or for a longtime fan to look back and remember when."
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RECAP: Louis CK, 2/21

Todd Barry took the stage a little bit after 8:30 and did a very funny set, as would be expected from such a great comedian. Or as he put it, "I'm much too famous to be the opening act." What followed him completely marveled me for the next hour and a half. I don't want to go too much into jokes or what he said in any kind of specificity. But I will say this: Louis CK is the best comedian alive today and is rapidly approaching, if he's not already, being one of the best of all time. What struck me the most while watching him, that more than ever before he speaks with a complete freedom.

I can't imagine there being anything that he would like to say but that he isn't saying. He drops words like "faggot" and "cunt" like they're every day parts of his vocabulary and makes no apologies for them. He speaks about subjects that would (and did) make normal people squeamish and uncomfortable or even offended, and then made those people see things his way and laugh about them. His audience isn't just made up of nihilistic fuck-ups like me who will not have a second thought about laughing at a joke about raping a dead child -- for instance, the group of middle aged women near me were dying at that, even when he kept going in more horrific detail.

Which, I guess, brings me to my larger point. Louis CK never had to sell out or go clean or pander to get a mainstream audience. He never had to tone it down. He never had to go to where the audience was to get them. He's become one of the biggest touring acts of stand-up simply by being the best and the audience came to him. And on his Hilarious tour, he's become more graphic, more extreme, more descriptive of all the horrific details, and yeah, even funnier. He's at the top of the stand-up game being dirty, but also when he's talking about airplanes, or how we use words and language. He can talk about anything and still be the best at it.

Another thing that struck me was how loud on the mic he would get when he was angry. And it wasn't at all artificial like some angry comedians who are known for their yelling. It was completely natural frustration. That's what I felt was most important about the show. Everything he talked about mattered to him. Even when he would get into digressions about the silly or gross, it still led to a larger point or philosophy, so when he did raise his voice in anger, it felt like it mattered to him, so it mattered to me. And yet, he was completely loose and it felt like a natural conversation or dialogue. CK has become the model that all comedians should emulate. Not his style or his subject matter or his delivery. Just that he got to the top by doing the stuff he wanted to do rather than what he thought others wanted him to do. And the result is the single best night of stand-up comedy I've ever seen.

- Luke Giordano is a Phiadelphia comedian and host of the STAND-UP AT THE BULLY PULPIT show at Drexel University on Friday, March 13th.
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Andy Reid plays piano at Helium on Friday nights

That's local comic Steve Odabashian as Andy Reid (coach of the Philadelphia Eagles football team for youse that ain't in the know), filmed by Comcast SportsNet. Steve plays piano and takes requests every Friday night from 6:30-10:45PM at Helium. While he's out in the lobby tonight, Nick DiPaolo, Joe List and Kent Haines will be performing in the showroom.
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TICKET GIVEAWAY: The Whitest Kids U'Know at The Troc

Hot off a third season of their sketch show on IFC and the release of Miss March next month, The Whitest Kids U'Know are going out on tour. The NYC group will be at the Trocadero Theatre next Tuesday and we are giving away a pair of tickets!

To enter, just send an email with your name and the subject of WHITE KIDS to comicvsaudience@gmail.com. We'll draw a random winner next Tuesday.

In the meantime, enjoy these videos by the group:

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TONIGHT: Bedtime Stories: An Evening at Applebee's

This past December, as previously discussed, local comic Gregg Gethard decided to move his monthly topical sketch/monologue show BEDTIME STORIES away from the Philly Improv Theater and the Shubin. The show has landed at Connie's Ric Rac on the Italian Market and the next installment is tonight with the theme of "An Evening at Applebee's". In addition to the lineup below "there's actually a bit of a narrative arc with the show, which is something I've always wanted to try," says Gregg. "I think it might end up as a really special night."

Set to perform are:

Jon Goff
Action Section
Boy Meets Tractor
Little Miss Jamie Fountaine
Secret Pants
Meg and Rob
Chris Cotton and Friends
Animosity Pierre

Here's the official commercial for the show:

Gregg is a frequent writer to C vs. A and in case you were too busy gettin' it on, he wrote a Valentine's Day story last week.

Can't make it? Rob of the sketch group Meg & Rob will be twittering live (@bonyevitch) with a behind-the-scenes look at the show. Hey, by the way, we're on Twitter as well (@comicvsaudience).

The show starts at 8PM and $10 will get you in. And it's BYOB!

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TONIGHT: Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival auditions

Tonight, the Helium Comedy Club is hosting an Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival audition with the hopes that at least one of the comics will make it to the big show. Set to perform are Philadelphia-area stand-up comics Pat Barker, Kent Haines, Chip Chantry, Chris Coccia, Pat House, David James, Anton Shuford, Andy Nolan, Roger Weaver, and Joe Bublewicz. No matter if someone becomes famous or not, that's are a lot of funny comics on one show that will make you laugh.
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PODCAST: An improv set from Rare Bird Show

We've got one last podcast from last Thursday's C vs. A Radio Hour broadcast on G-Town Radio. The in-studio guest was the Philadelphia improv group Rare Bird Show and we were lucky enough to have them perform a set of improv comedy based off a suggestion from someone listening. Definitely worth checking out!

Subscribe to the podcast feed (iTunes)

If this doesn't directly take you to iTunes, copy and paste http://feeds.feedburner.com/cvsa_podcast_feed into iTunes through Advanced - Subscribe to Podcast...)

(Feel free to write a review in iTunes!)

Subscribe to the podcast feed (in another podcast reader)

Listen to this episode (12:41):

Download this episode (as a .mp3)

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BREAKING: The State's Kevin Allison coming to the Philly Improv Theater in April

Over the years, the Philly Improv Theater has had some big names from the world of improv teach workshops in Philadelphia. And now, they have a big sketch comedy name. Kevin Allison from the cult MTV show The State will not only teach a beginner sketch writing workshop titled "The Joy of Sketch" and a sketch writing master class in April, but he will perform his one-man show "F*** Up".

Allison performed a sold-out run of the show this past November at The Pit (where he was Artistic Director in 2007) in New York City. In an Apiary interview last year, Allison explained the show:

The show is about me, but in the form of radically different nutjobs: A 90-year-old Jew, a monster, a salty sea dog, a Shakespearian thespian, a singing suicide and so on. There's dancing, hallucinations, urination -- all the ingredients of a hit. In real life, I'm someone who always returned to chasing his dream, even after making a jaw-droppingly catastrophic mess of life on occasions. There's something magically funny and cheering about the guy who walks right under a falling piano but gets back up and plows ahead. It's the reason we love Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Ralph Kramden. So this show is about daring dreamers who fuck up a lot along the way, then go once more into the breach. Comic heroes, I suppose.

Allison's performances and workshops will happen from April 10-12 at the Shubin Theater (407 Bainbridge). Performances will be on Friday and Saturday at 10PM and Sunday at 7PM with the workshops held during the day on Saturday and Sunday. Workshop spaces are available now on the PHIT website and tickets to the shows go on-sale March 1st at midnight.
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PODCAST: Rare Bird Show

We've got more podcasts from last Thursday's C vs. A Radio Hour broadcast on G-Town Radio. The in-studio guest was the Philadelphia improv group Rare Bird Show and today, listen to them talk to host Dave Walk about performing in festivals and where they'd like to see Philadelphia improv go next.

Subscribe to the podcast feed (iTunes)

If this doesn't directly take you to iTunes, copy and paste http://feeds.feedburner.com/cvsa_podcast_feed into iTunes through Advanced - Subscribe to Podcast...)

(Feel free to write a review in iTunes!)

Subscribe to the podcast feed (in another podcast reader)

Listen to this episode (14:44):

Download this episode (as a .mp3)

Check back tomorrow for a podcast of the live improv set that Rare Bird Show performed later in the show.
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